Combining traditional artistic materials such as chalk, paper, paint, and plaster with everyday items including eye shadow, earth, ribbon, toilet paper, and cotton wool, Karla Black’s works at David Zwirner Gallery in New York are at once elaborate and simple, expressive and restrained. They challenge their own medium by being “almost” or “only just” objects with a close affinity to painting, performance art, and installation. As the artist notes, the “most important thing about the work is that it prioritizes material experience over language as a way to learn about and understand the world.”